In 2017, the relatively new Liberal government asked Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke, and other tech leaders, to help develop recommendations about how Canada could prosper in a knowledge-based economy. Among their insights: Canada lags behind other countries when it comes to commercializing innovative technologies; Canadian businesses adopt new tech too little and too slowly; and the country’s tech-savvy workforce is too small, while its competition is fierce and global.

At the time, there was great optimism that the new government was serious about tackling these problems. They named a Minister of Innovation and engaged tech CEOs publicly and behind the scenes. Former BlackBerry co-CEO Jim Balsillie said around this time that he was encouraged by the government’s intentions and open-mindedness. But he cautioned that Canada........

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